ROME- The radical Catholic group, We Are Church, have welcomed Pope Francis’ decision not to renew the mandate of conservative Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller as Head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF.) The group also praised the appointment of Spanish Archbishop Luis Ladaria SJ as his replacement, citing that he would bring “transparency, justice and compassion to the CDF,”  they voiced in a recent press release.

 The reform movement, committed to the renewal of the Roma Catholic Church on the basis of the Second Vatican Council, called on the Vatican to divulge more power to the people.

 “The Vatican curia devotes too much energy to protect and preserve institutional power. This will only change when there is a full blossoming of laypeople and especially women’s involvement in the church and its mission. Substantive change in our Church is urgently needed,” read a section of the statement, released Sunday.

 “We are Church international calls on the new prefect to rescind all sanctions against theologians as a sign of a new era of justice in the Church and to open and support the vivid exchange on theological positions without ban of thinking,” continued the statement.

 We are Church called for Cardinal Müller to step down or be replaced back in March of this year, citing his on-going interventions against church reform.

 The group highlighted four main reasons as to why the German Cardinal had failed in his post:

 -       Refused the request from the Pontifical Abuse Commission that all letters from survivors should receive a reply.

 -       Refused to allow a tribunal to be set up to investigate and censure bishops regarding covering up sexual abuse.

 -       Refused to change the processes it uses for investigating priests & religious which are unjust and in breach of natural justice.

 -       Refused to support the changes for divorced and remarried receiving communion based on Pope Francis’ Amoris Laetitia

 Chairman of We Are Church International, Sigrid Grabmeier praised the change in the CDF, stating that it represented “a valuable opportunity for reorientation for the important task of the prosecution of sexual violence by priests.”

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